Mchenry County To Examine Wages

October 17, 1998

WOODSTOCK — McHenry County officials plan to study wages throughout the area over the next two months to determine whether county employees are being fairly compensated.

The County Board's Finance and Management Services Committees recommended the study this week in the wake of an average 18.2 percent pay increase that County Recorder Phyllis Walters requested for her staff Tuesday. The Finance Committee rejected the request Thursday.

But one of the issues Walters raised to justify her request--that the county's wages are falling behind those in private industry, leading to high turnover--prompted the committees to instruct interim County Administrator Roy Witherow to conduct the wage study.

Witherow said Friday that there are "hot spots" where wages do seem to have outstripped the county's pay structure. One of those areas is information technology. The county recently hired a new information services director for $93,000, more than $20,000 more than the next highest-paid appointed director, and has been having trouble filling three computer programming positions, which would pay about $40,000 each.